For many, living with a cancer diagnosis and all that follows, can feel like an everlasting rollercoaster that doesn’t seem to have an ending. One of our past campaign kids, Taylor, has shown us that there truly is a stop to that rollercoaster; and what life looks like once you’ve jumped off that ride. May 1st, 2019 marks a year since Taylor’s last IV chemo and LP chemo, and since then she has been thriving!

As a child with cancer, you are isolated and pulled back from living the life of a normal child. You are no longer just a “child;” you are a “child with cancer.” And with that title, comes consequences. Living with cancer, for a child, means not being able to play outside due to the high chance of catching germs, bacteria, etc. It means not being able to attend school or be exposed to public places or large groups of people. Taylor experienced all of this, and missed out on so much more.

Now, a year later, she and her family are living life to the fullest. Taylor is now going to school full time and loving every second of it. Outside of school she is involved in Girl Scouts, our OAAT Youth Ambassador Program, and has even started to learn how to ride a bike on her own! Something that makes her very happy is just being able to go outside and play in the dirt!! She was unable to do that during treatment due to the risk of bacteria and infection. Now, she is even allowed to play in the ocean and the lake and not have a worry in her mind!

Taylor does have some side effects, such as short term memory loss, known as chemo brain. She also has scar tissue built up in her spine from radiation, and PTSD/anxiety she is currently working through. Taylor’s mom Michelle says she is really thriving overall and her levels are all up to where they should be. Michelle says, “The light at the end of the tunnel does eventually come and there are points now where I truly forget what drugs she was on.” The whole family is aware there will never be a “normal” but look forward to creating their “new normal” as the days go by.